Connie gaped at the scene before her.

It had started out innocently enough; she'd wanted to get to Steven's house so she could share some jam biscuits with him, and had been greeted by chaos and yelling.

She winced behind her glasses, glad she had them for once, although losing her eyes probably wouldn't make much of a difference. She had the sense to keep her mouth shut against the powerful winds, her breath growing shallow as she tried not to take in any sand. She skidded down to the beach just as the winds began to wail more quietly, and by the time she'd gotten up and reached the home of the Crystal Gems, it seemed like everything was back to normal.

"Steven? Steven, what's happening?" She called, following the pink light blindly. It shifted towards her, and she slowed down to try and get a feel for what was happening.

One of the corrupted gems, as she had learned they were, was presumably in Amethyst's hands; that explained the sand and high winds. One of the gems must have gotten loose. What confused her was the bright pink residue in the shape of a lion, striding alongside Steven.

"Oh, hi Connie!" Steven beamed at her. "We were just sorting out the desert gem. Oh, this is Lion. He helped me!" She turned her attention to the pink blob suspended in her void, and from the looks of it it was studying her, too.

There was something that made her twitch irritably about this so-called 'Lion'. She found herself wrapped reluctantly in glowing pink fur as the creature sniffed her, its snout colliding with her forehead.

She backed up, ready to defend herself, but after a moment the Lion seemed to reach a state of indifference and he plopped down, looking very pleased with himself - or at least, that's what Connie imagined, what with how he was lying there.

"So, picnic?" She decided, ignoring Lion for the time being and holding up a basket of bread and jam.

It had been a nice day of duets at the top of the hill once more, but every time she looked down at the beach to where Lion was, she felt a strange tingling in her chest, like there was something more to the strange creature. Finally, Steven noticed, and he paused from his playing.

"You're worried about Lion." It wasn't a question. Connie nodded numbly.

"I guess I am... he doesn't quite feel right to me." She didn't want to explain how he was the first recognizable shape she'd seen in upwards of a year.

"He's okay, I know he is," Steven replied, smiling. "Oh, oh! Let's go play with Lion! Then I'm sure you'll see he's a great friend!" Connie sighed at Steven's kind, naïve behaviour and followed him, picking up his ukulele for him and following him back down the road to the beach.

Lion seemed indifferent to their arrival, although she noticed him shift slightly, acknowledging their presence. Steven ran up to him and dropped himself on Lion's side, letting out a punctuated 'oomf' and a soft giggle that never failed to send her spirits soaring. She cautiously joined him, eventually getting the courage to rest in the soft pink fur, which felt much like cotton candy.

They spent the rest of the day building sandcastles and interacting with Lion. As Steven left, she waved, feeling a bit lighter.

"Connie?" Her mother called, breaking her out of her focus. She was listening to a recording of her class to study, the recorders being gifts from Steven.

"Yes mom?" She yelled back, trotting down the stairs. She felt a few bills and a list being thrust into her hands.

"Could you go get these for me?" She asked, and Connie responded with a weak nod. How could she disobey? It would only lead to her mother knowing or her being grounded, and Steven would undoubtedly come over to find out what happened if she was. That would be a disaster. So instead, she walked out the door and went down the street aimlessly, hoping she got the right shop.

Eventually, she realized she'd left without her glasses. Not that it matters, she thought pessimistically, not even bothering to go get them. I'll just... work with it.

"Hey, little dudette," She heard, and she spun around at the sound of Sour Cream's voice. "you walked straight past me. For a second, I thought I'd unlocked the secret to invisibility."

How random, she thought, continuing to look at him. How... useful.

"I haven't got my glasses on," Connie offered. "which reminds me... could you read this out to me? I can't without my glasses." She felt through her handful of paper for the right one and handed it off to him, and he took it, pausing for a moment.

"Oh, sure," he responded. "Milk, eggs, bread, and pasta. Looks like you've run out of meal material." He handed it back to her, and she thanked him. She knew where to go from here if she wanted that sort of stuff.

"Say, didn't you pass the shop a while ago?"

"Er, I didn't see the sign," Connie fibbed quickly, internalizing the deep breath she took. No, Connie! NO ANXIETY ATTACKS IN THE STREET!

She quickly walked back to where she'd come, ending the conversation before she became too embarrassed to think and her mind went fuzzy.

While she knew the general area pretty well, the insides of large shopping malls were confusing and alarmingly hard to work with. She couldn't work by sound - there were too many rattling carts and otherwise disruptive noises - and while she could just go around feeling all the items, she would have no idea whether something was a packet of pasta or a packet of hot dogs. She sighed and decided to work with what she had.

She walked around until she felt particularly cold and began walking along, sniffing quietly to make sure she wasn't in the meat section (how would she explain manhandling fresh meat?) and reached out, carefully tracing her fingers over the products until she came to some large bags. she lifted one with some noted effort, decided that she couldn't get in trouble since the specific kind wasn't specified, and continued along.

The eggs were also easier, since she could feel for the distinct packaging and since they were near the milk, and she took some, placing them in a basket she'd found. It was convenient that most supermarkets kept their baskets near the entrance.

When she reached the aisle she was fairly certain had the pasta in it, she was lucky enough to overhear someone talking about the different brands, and she quickly picked up a few from it, thanking her luck once more.

The bread was to be simple; sniff for what smelled like a bakery, and then ask where the whole-wheat bread was. When she reached the in-store bakery, however, she found herself getting anxious.

No, nonononono. Calm, calm. You're fine.

She sagged in relief when someone asked, "Can I help you?"

"Yes," she replied eagerly, "where's the whole-wheat bread?"

"Oh, it's over there," the woman responded, and by the way she sounded it seemed that she was pointing. Connie panicked and glanced to her left.

"Er, no, the other way, next to the sign," she continued, and Connie got a familiar sinking feeling in her gut.

NONONONONONO-

She was floating, time was slowing, she felt the crushing weight of what could only be described as her fear given a face and name. She felt her knees hit the ground but she couldn't move. It was all too much-

Something soft brushed up against her, huffed, and promptly took her basket.

She took a few deep breaths and turned, allowing pink to flood her void. She slowly lifted her hand and patted his head.

"What are you doing here, Lion? I still need to get bread." She inquired after a moment, continuing to stroke him, though more to reassure herself than for Lion's benefit. He rumbled in a distinctly friendly manner and began pushing her gently.

Not really wanting to disobey a lion, she allowed herself to be nudged through the supermarket, eventually landing her in front of a display. She reached out and felt for what was there, and sighed in relief at the rectangular feel of bread. Pulling it out and placing it in her basket, she turned and began to search for the checkout, but Lion nudged her further in another direction.

When she reached out her hand, there was a cool, rounded jar. Shrugging, she put it in the basket, and grumbled in frustration as Lion deemed it necessary to push her all the way to the checkout.

"Are you sure that Lion is safe?" The checkout man inquired. Connie continued to place her things on the conveyor belt, indifferent.

"He's peaceful." She shrugged. "How much do I owe you?"

"Oh, twenty-one fifty-five."

She shrugged, handed him all the money, and left, Lion and food in tow.

Connie grumbled in frustration as she walked, pausing every so often to send a glare in Lion's direction. It was about ten minutes later that she finally popped.

Turning around, she cried, "What?! What do you want?!"

Much to her surprise, the Lion began tugging on her skirt, leading her away, and more out of curiosity than anything she allowed herself to be pulled down the street by a lion. She was surprised, therefore, when she opened the door to a shop and recognized the place as the Big Donut.

She walked in, and immediately Lion moved over to where she was fairly certain a frozen treat was. She watched as he comically pushed his snout up against the door of the iced treat box, staring firmly at it.

"Excuse me," she called to where she was fairly certain the desk was, "Could I get one of these?" She heard the chipper 'sure!' that was unmistakably Sadie and the clak of the door as it opened and closed. Connie surfed through her pocket and found the remainder of her money, handing it off to Sadie and taking what felt like a Lion Licker.

How humorous.

She waved goodbye and stopped a few blocks away, watching as Lion stared intently at the treat. With a shrug she gave it to him, his jaws opening gently to accept the tribute, and she was finally allowed to move on in peace.

When she went through the door, her mother wasn't there. She heard a rustling sound, presumably her father reading the paper, and dropped off the purchases in the kitchen, dashing up the steps to her room with the forced extra purchase, a jar of... something. She reached her room and sat down on her bed, twisting it open with a grunt of effort and carefully dipping a finger inside.

It felt like peanut butter, but when she brought it to her lips for a taste test, the taste wasn't peanuts at all. It was chocolate, with a dash of hazelnut, which she found she rather liked. She realized suddenly that her mother would have her head if she caught sight of it, and screwing the top on firmly, she shoved it under her bed for the next time she went on a picnic with Steven.

And knowing him, she thought cheerfully, it'll be soon, too.

A/N: Finally an update!

I apologize for the wait, I've been trying to get a summer class going but the teachers keep backing out at the last minute... it's really annoying. I've barely had time to work on anything between that and a house-guest, but I managed to get this done. Hope you enjoyed! Digi-fistbump to whomever guesses what Lion had Connie buy! (Digi-istbumps have no monetary or sentimental value - they're just nice.)